Amour Infini
by jesslover
Summary: This is based on the movie...I can't tell much without giving away the surprise...this takes place during Winnie's world tour
1. Prologue

*Hey y'all! This is my first T.E. fan fic. It is based on the movie and not the book so  
  
some stuff is different than the book. The part at the very end where Jesse goes to see  
  
Winnie's grave at the end of the movie does not happen. Winnie's grandmother dies and  
  
this story takes place on her world tour.Well read and please review (flames are  
  
welcome but do not be too harsh please)*  
The rain fell thickly that summer's night. Winnie Foster stood out in the pouring rain in  
  
her night clothes getting soaked to the bone. The tears streaming down her cheeks,  
  
however, drowned her heart as no flood could.  
  
"Winnie Foster, I will love you until the day I die," she heard the voice of her first  
  
love call out.  
  
"I love you too Jesse! Please come back..Please! Please come back!" she  
  
called despairingly, finally collapsing into hacking sobs.  
  
"Winnie!" he called out as the wagon drove away, "Winnie! Winnie!"  
  
"Winnie?" asked Lisle the maid.  
  
Winnie jerked awake and sat up in her bed, shivering as though she was still wet.  
  
"Yes Lisle?"  
  
"You seemed to be having a horrible nightmare. I heard you screaming from my  
  
room and came in to check on you. Didn't want to wake the other guests."  
  
"Yes Lisle.thank you. I am quite alright. Just a little tired form the journey I  
  
suppose."  
  
"Well only a few more hours till we arise. You better go to sleep. You have a  
  
busy day of sightseeing ahead."  
  
"Yes, well goodnight," Winnie said.  
  
"Yes m'am."  
  
Winnie laid down when Lisle had left the room. It had been three months since  
  
the night Jesse, Miles, Tuck and Mae had left Treegap. Shortly after, her grandmother  
  
had died. Her parents felt this was a good time to take her on a grand world tour. So  
  
Winnie set out on an adventure of her own. She went to Italy, saw Venice and rode in a  
  
gondola, and then to Rome and walked upon countless ruins. They journeyed to Greece,  
  
Portugal, Spain, and were know in London, about to embark on their last day of sight-  
  
seeing. Their next and final stop was to be France..to see the Eiffel Tower.  
*REVIEW!!!!* 


	2. Chapter 1

*OK second chapter..I do not own the plot Tuck Everlasting (the movie or the book).  
  
But I do own this story, Tuck Everlasting (book and movie) and zillions of Gilmore  
  
Girls tapes but that is a different story. Please review.*  
  
Winnie awoke to her mother's gentle shaking.  
  
"Winnie, wake up."  
  
"I'm awake Mother."  
  
"Well jump on up so Lisle can wash your hair and then I can help you dress."  
  
"Yes m'am," Winnie said getting out of the bed and stretching.  
  
The rest of the night had been uneventful. No dreams or at least none that she  
  
could remember. She exited the bedroom into the bathroom and undressed and sat in the  
  
tub while Lisle washed her hair.  
  
"You are very quiet this morning, Miss Foster. Might it be something about last  
  
night's dream perhaps?" Lisle asked.  
  
"Yes Lisle," Winnie answered simply.  
  
"I heard you, in your yelling, yell the name of Jesse. Is he the man in main cause  
  
of your nightmares?"  
  
"Ummmm.." Winnie said reluctantly.  
  
"Tell me child. I may seem old but I too know of matters of the heart."  
  
"Yes he is," Winnie admitted matter-of-factly.  
  
"Oh dear.I have taken care of you for many years. Since you were six and I  
  
fifteen. I have seen you cooped into the house every time you branched out. You finally  
  
have found the one thing that will help you explore the world. Tell me all about him,"  
  
Lisle said with child-like excitement.  
  
"Well," Winnie started, "He has brown hair that falls over his eyes in such a  
  
manner and his eyes, a lake of the purest blue. I only knew him for what people might  
  
think a few piddling days, but we were destined to meet. But.."  
  
'But what darling?"  
  
"He..he.he is a common man, poor. My parents would surely never, ever  
  
approve."  
  
"Oh. May I be so bold as to make a suggestion?"  
  
"Yes please."  
  
"Well, if you love this man as you so undoubtedly shown me in this time, then I  
  
suggest you do whatever you can to be with him."  
  
"Thank you Lisle."  
  
Mrs. Foster entered and they then stepped back into their roles of mistress and  
  
servant.  
  
*LATER*  
  
"Good morning, Winnie darling," her father said giving her a kiss on the cheek.  
  
"Good morning father."  
  
"We can proceed on with breakfast then," he said to a near by attendant.  
  
The maids brought out toast, marmalade, and eggs. The Fosters ate in silence and  
  
afterward all went to separate rooms to get their coats. Once safely in her room, Winnie  
  
took a small box from inside her undergarment drawer. Inside the box lay a small  
  
perfume vial of water. Satisfied that it was intact, she replaced it and exited the room,  
  
leaving the bottle safe if the occasion ever arrived.  
  
The Fosters saw London from the privacy and leisure of their coach. They saw  
  
the Big Ben, Royal Palace, statues, parks, and any other conceivable land mark that  
  
would bore a child to tears. If she had seen this with Jesse it would have been more  
  
interesting. They would have walked, made funny faces at the palace guards as she had  
  
seen some tourists do. Looking out the window of the coach, every man or boy  
  
Winnie saw was Jesse. The way he walked, his hair, even the occurrence when she heard  
  
a laugh so hauntingly like his.  
  
"Winnie, dear, time to get out," she heard her mother say.  
  
She let her father help her down and realized she was back at the hotel.  
  
"The day went by very quickly. Time must fly when you are bored to tears," she  
  
thought to herself.  
  
They entered the hotel and proceeded to the dining room and headed to their  
  
table, which was strangely inhabited by a young man. Not to be horribly rude, but the  
  
man was horribly ugly. He was looked to be about three inches shorter than Winnie and  
  
two times wider. He had a pimply face and most strange of all was his hair. It was dirty  
  
blonde and curled into the tightest ringlets she had ever seen. The man stood as they  
  
approached.  
  
"Mr. and Mrs. Foster," he said in an oily voice, "Hello! And you must be  
  
Winifred," he said taking her hand and kissing it.  
  
"Yes I am," she said rubbing her hand on the side of her dress.  
  
"A pleasure to meet you."  
  
"Peter," her father said, firmly shaking hands with this man, "Glad to be  
  
graduated?"  
  
"Oh yes sir. Ready to return to the states also."  
  
"Good, Good," he father said, seating Winnie and her mother at the table.  
  
"What will you have?" the waiter asked.  
  
"I will have the steak with potatoes, my wife salmon with salad, and my daughter  
  
will also have the steak but with a lobster bisque."  
  
"Excellent choice, and you sir?" the waiter said turning to Peter.  
  
"I will have the steak with potatoes, salad, soup and bread. Oh and also might I  
  
have some wine?"  
  
"Of course sir," the waiter said leaving.  
  
They sat in silence for a few moments when her father spoke up.  
  
"So Winifred, this is Mr. Peter Jackson. His father is a very important business partner of mine. He just graduated form Oxford."  
  
"Oh really," Winnie said nonchalantly, sipping on her water.  
  
"Yes and once we finish our tour and return home and Peter also gets home you  
  
two will be married."  
  
"What?" Winnie asked loudly.  
  
The whole restaurant looked toward their table.  
  
"Yes dear, I know it is a bit." her mother said comfortingly.  
  
"NO! I will not marry this oily swine!" Winnie exclaimed, running from the  
  
dining room.  
  
Winnie burst into her room and fell on to the bed. Any chance of seeing Jesse  
  
again was gone. She would be Mrs. God-forsaken Peter Jackson. She wished she had  
  
never met him. At least tomorrow she would go to Paris and see what her love loved  
  
most in the city.  
  
*OK, ready, set, REVIEW!!!* 


	3. Chapter 2

*OK, same old drill, don't own the book or movie, never will unless I become super rich  
  
and can buy whatever I want! Well on to the story.*  
  
After Winnie's outburst at dinner she had a stern talking to by her parents, he is  
  
an important business contact and a nice boy blah blah by her father and That is not how  
  
a nice young lady acts blady blah by her mother. But both were firm in the decision that  
  
she would be marrying Mr. Jackson.  
  
As Winnie boarded the ferry that would carry her over to France, Lisle came up  
  
beside her.  
  
"Miss Foster. May I show you where the restrooms are so that you may freshen  
  
up?"  
  
"Yes, that would be fine Lisle," Winnie said.  
  
The two made their way to the bathrooms and entered. making sure the door was  
  
closed firmly.  
  
"Miss Winnie.."  
  
"Winnie, just Winnie."  
  
'Winnie! I just heard about your betrothal to Mr. Jackson. That is horrible. What  
  
are you going to do?"  
  
"I truly do not know. I may never even see Jesse again. Probably won't. I  
  
thought of this all night. I just might as well forget about him."  
  
'No Mi-I mean Winnie.you must not. Let me tell you a story. Before I came  
  
to you and your family I worked in my father's carpentry shop. Not much, just helped  
  
about. He had a hand, maybe ten years older than me but I knew I loved him. He had  
  
brown hair and beautiful eyes. He had been married once before but it seemed she along  
  
with eh children had died. He had a tough wall but I once or twice could get it down and  
  
when I could he was lovely. I loved him for many a day until he left abruptly. No reason  
  
and it hurt. First loves are intense but first heartbreaks are even more intense. I have not  
  
yet found it in my heart to forget him."  
  
"Might I inquire his name?"  
  
"No, respectfully, no please no.do not ask this. It still smarts."  
  
"I suppose I too will be like this in ten years. Unable to speak his name. The  
  
only warm memory being out kiss."  
  
"You kissed this fellow?"  
  
"Oh," Winnie said blushing, "Yes."  
  
"That is exciting.just one?"  
  
"Oh.no.quite a few times actually," admitted Winnie sheepishly.  
  
"That is a beautiful love story, straight from the tragic pages of a Shakespearian  
  
play."  
  
"Well I suppose mother will begin to get worried now so we better return to the  
  
deck."  
  
"I agree...and Winnie?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"You have been a great confidant."  
  
"And you me!"  
  
"Thank you for that. You are the first person I have ever told that story to."  
  
"The same with mine."  
  
Lisle gave Winnie a quick hug and brushed the stray tears away from her eyes.  
  
They left the washroom and met up once again with the elder Fosters.  
  
Winnie could see why Jesse loved Paris. It was alive with warmth, color, and  
  
beauty.  
  
"Look Winnie!" her mother whispered excitedly, "It's the Eiffel Tower."  
  
"1652 steps to the top," she thought aloud.  
  
"Oui!" the coach driver said, "How did you know that?"  
  
"I read it somewhere," Winnie replied.  
  
"The mademoiselle is smart," the coach driver remarked to her parents.  
  
"Yes," her father remarked.  
  
Upon arriving at the hotel, Winnie decided she needed some fresh air. Whether at  
  
home, abroad, or on the moon, the air in fancy quarters was always stuffy.  
  
"Mother," Winnie asked tapping on the door, "May I go on a walk?"  
  
"Yes dear, but surly take Lisle with you.I do not want you wandering these  
  
streets alone. We've already had enough trouble with kidnappers."  
  
"Yes m'am."  
  
She left the room and tapped on Lisle's door.  
  
"Lisle.would you like to accompany me on a walk?"  
  
"Yes m'am," she called through the door, "I'm coming."  
  
They exited the hotel and walked down an alley to a narrow, cobblestone street  
  
with bright awnings.  
  
"Aw.this is beautiful!" Lisle exclaimed, "I like this town much, much more than  
  
London. London was so foggy and rainy."  
  
Winnie was then bumped by a man exiting an adjacent shop.  
  
"Excuzez moi mademoiselle."  
  
"No, excuse me sir."  
  
The man turned around quickly.  
  
"Winnie?"  
  
*HAHAHA Cliffhanger.I know something you don't know (you probably do since it is  
  
kind of predictable!) Well please just review and I will be out out with the next few  
  
chapters soon.* 


	4. Chapter 3

*OK, next chapter. I know who most of you think the man is so I just might change it.  
  
So uh to all you smug people..just kidding. Um I don't own any of this except for the  
  
plot. Please, please review*  
"Miles?" Winnie asked incredulously.  
  
"Winnie!" Miles said pulling her into a hug.  
  
"I cannot believe you are here!" Winnie said excitedly.  
  
"Me neither! What are you doing?"  
  
"Our family went on a world tour. This is our last stop."  
  
"Enough small talk...I need to take you to see Jesse. He will be  
  
incredibly happy! He thought he had lost you."  
"Hold on first," Winnie said, "Lisle! This is Miles, Jesse's brother!"  
  
"Really?" Lisle asked looking the other way.  
  
"Yes and if he is here than Jesse is too so now we can...What's the  
  
matter?" she asked.  
  
"Nothing...I better be heading back to the hotel."  
  
She started to walk in the other direction.  
  
"Wait Lisle," Winnie called running after her, "Where are you going?  
  
What is going on? You're not going to tell my parents are you?"  
  
"No Winnie," she said harshly, "I won't.:  
  
"Then what is your problem?" she said grabbing her by the arm.  
  
"My problem? My problem...well my problem is that man back there."  
  
"Miles? He is a perfectly nice and respectable man!"  
  
"Oh yes he would be," Lisle whispered fiercely, "Because he is the man I  
  
told you about. The man I loved."  
  
"Oh!" Winnie exclaimed in disbelief.  
  
"And I do not want to have to face him and know that he is married again  
  
or hated me the whole time!"  
  
"Alright fine...but do me a favor please. Just one favor."  
  
"Sure. What is it? After all I am your servant and you are your mother's  
  
daughter so if I don't do what you say then I might get fired and then where will I be.  
  
Stuck in Paris with no money and trying to avoid someone my whole life."  
  
"Miles is not going to flat out reject you...if he remembers you...just  
  
come back.."  
  
"Fine," Lisle said, furiously rubbing her eyes.  
  
"So," Miles said uncomfortably, "Do you want me to.." he suddenly  
  
looked extremely panicked.  
  
"What is it Miles?" Winnie asked.  
  
"Lisle!?"  
  
"Yes," she said.  
  
"It is me, Miles. I worked in your dad's shop for a while. You used to  
  
help out and we had quite a few good chats."  
  
"Oh yes," Lisle said, "That was so long ago. I had almost forgotten. How  
  
have you been? You don't look like you've changed in years."  
  
"Oh well," Miles said a dark shadow falling over his face, "Our family  
  
always ages well."  
  
"So Lisle are you going to accompany us to their home to see Jesse?"  
  
Winnie asked.  
  
"Well Winnie," Miles interrupted, "Jesse is working as a tour guide for a  
  
hotel...I can't really remember the name but I can take you there."  
  
"Alright," Winnie said eagerly.  
  
"I know that you are in a hurry. He has missed you so much. You know  
  
that night when we left, all he has thought about is you. Before we left he made us stop  
  
at the spring and get some.." he stopped abruptly when he realized Lisle was with  
  
them.  
  
"Get some what?" asked interested Lisle.  
  
"Some water from the spring where we met," Winnie quickly answered.  
  
"Oh so that is why you have the water in your underclothes. The water in  
  
the perfume vial that I see you looking at every once and awhile," Lisle said.  
  
Winnie saw a great cloud fall over Mile's face.  
  
"Winnie," he said sternly, "Can we go somewhere quickly and  
  
talk..alone."  
  
He said this as more of a statement than a question so she nodded  
  
willingly and they walked away.  
  
"What in the hell do you think you are doing?" he asked angrily.  
  
"Nothing Miles, I just wanted to have it with me just in case."  
  
"Well you just cannot drink it. Immortality is horrible. You are alone all  
  
the time and no one wants to get close to you."  
  
"You have Jesse, and Tuck and Mae. You know..I think Jesse is right.  
  
You just don't want him or me to have something you lost."  
  
"That is not true. I know how hard this is."  
  
"But look at your mother and father. Do they seem to be suffering so  
  
much as you. They love each other so much that an eternity together is good. And once  
  
the world ends here they will be together in heaven. If you found somebody you loved  
  
then you would want them to drink the water so you could be together."  
  
"I don't need a lesson on life from a fifteen year old girl. Come on so I  
  
can show you where your "eternity-long love" is," Miles said gruffly.  
  
"No Miles! This discussion is not over yet. Why don't you want Jesse to  
  
be happy?"  
  
"I want him to be happy, I just don't want you to make a mistake."  
  
"I have not made a mistake yet. And if I do choose to then I will deal with  
  
it in my own manner."  
  
"Fine," Miles said, "Let's try and be happy. We have and will have many  
  
joyous reunions today," he said looking over towards Lisle.  
  
"Did you ever love her?" Winnie asked.  
  
"I don't know..I saw her as a young child but she had an ease in  
  
talking and was very beautiful. I was still having a hard time over Anna, she had just  
  
died, but she was kind and tried to talk to me about it. But I guess I never will know  
  
because I am sure she is married by now. Happy with her husband who will die one  
  
day."  
  
"No, she is not married...still trying to get over you."  
  
"Me?"  
  
"C'mon Miles," Winnie said loudly," Let's hurry to the hotel."  
  
"Wait Winnie," he called, "Me?"  
  
"Just come on!" she called.  
  
Winnie approached Lisle.  
  
"So what did you two talk about?" she asked.  
  
"Oh nothing...just you!" she said and playfully ran down the road.  
  
"Winnie!" Lisle exclaimed, "Come back!"  
  
"Miles, Lisle, Come on! We have a boy to see!" Winnie yelled.  
  
"Well you better slow down," Miles called, huffing and puffing for breath,  
  
"because you don't know how to get to the hotel!"  
  
Winnie slowed at the end of the alley.  
  
"So which way do we go?"  
  
"Um take a left here," Miles said coming up beside her.  
  
They took a left and Winnie and Lisle stood in awe.  
  
"What are we doing here? This is our hotel?" Winnie asked.  
  
"Well this is also where Jesse works," Miles said, "This is surely a day for  
  
coincidences."  
  
*OK, I think I will stop here and in the next chapter Winnie and Jesse meet up! Ah! I  
  
am so excited! Okay, please review.* 


	5. Chapter 4

*Alright...next chapter up! Winnie finally meets up with Jesse and some very  
  
interesting developments occur! I don't own any of this except for the plot..please read  
  
and review!!!!*  
  
Winnie could barely contain herself upon entering the hotel. She almost  
  
kissed the bell hop and hugged the man who pointed her to the concierge's desk. She  
  
saw a stern looking man at the desk writing something in a large book and then she saw  
  
Jesse. His back was turned and he was wearing a nicely tailored suit.  
  
"Excuse me, monsieur," she said to Jesse, reaching across the desk to tap  
  
his shoulder.  
  
"Yes," Jesse said.  
  
"I would very much like it if you would turn around upon addressing  
  
me," she said with false coldness.  
  
Jesse turned around and Winnie saw so many emotions flicker over  
  
Jesse's face. Annoyance, Surprise, Happiness, then a look of great Puzzlement.  
  
"Winnie," he said as if he never expected to say the name again,  
  
"Winnie."  
  
"Jesse," Winnie breathed.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
"We are on a world tour and surprisingly today I ran into your brother and  
  
he led me here, to my hotel where you also happen to work."  
  
"This is so-Monsieur Rousseau may I take my break...Mon souer (*  
  
my sister*)," he said gesturing to Winnie.  
  
The stern looking man looked from Jesse to Winnie disapprovingly and  
  
then waved his hand impatiently, dismissing him.  
  
Jesse quickly walked from behind the desk and engulfed Winnie in a giant  
  
hug, lifting her off the ground, causing Winnie to squeal in excitement.  
  
"Let's go outside," Jesse whispered in her ear and they latched hands and  
  
headed towards the exit.  
  
"Oh to be young and in love," Winnie heard someone say as they exited.  
  
"I remember my first beau like it was yesterday...The memories," her  
  
companion replied.  
  
The exited out into the cooling Paris evening.  
  
"Miles!" Winnie said excitedly, "Lisle, he's here!"  
  
"Yes Winnie," Miles said teasingly," I did tell you that he would be here."  
  
"Well Miles, thank you kindly for bringing her here, but might we have a  
  
few minutes alone?"  
  
"Yes you sure may. Lisle and I'll go over to the bench and catch up also."  
  
"C'mon," Jesse said, "I know where we can go to be alone."  
  
He grabbed her hand and led her around the hotel to a tall set of metal  
  
stairs. He gave her his hand to help her up and then mounted them behind her. They  
  
climbed to the top of the roof and as soon as Jesse reached the top he moved over to  
  
Winnie and gave her a very passionate kiss. Winnie broke the kiss because she had  
  
something very important to tell Jesse.  
  
"Jesse, there has been something weighing on my heart I never told you  
  
before you left...I-I love you."  
  
"Oh Winnie, I knew that...We have an amour infini-love everlasting."  
  
"Jesse I also have something very important to tell you."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"I did not drink the water."  
  
Winnie saw Jesse's face fall and his eyes almost tear up.  
  
"But before I left I bottled some water up just in case the occasion  
  
arrived..."  
  
"Oh Winnie..."  
  
"And if the right offer comes across I might be willing to drink it."  
  
"Oh Winnie!" Jesse said kissing her, "I love you so much.more than  
  
anyone could understand, save you. And I think it is only proper that...that...that.."  
  
"That what Jesse?" Winnie asked, her breath catching I her throat.  
  
"Will you uh...uh..uh...oh golly! Winnie Foster, will you get hitched  
  
with me?"  
  
Winnie started to cry.  
  
"Oh Winnie, I'm sorry, it was too soon. I should have waited. Good job  
  
Jesse," he said smacking himself on the forehead.  
  
"Oh Jesse I would love to marry you but..."  
  
"But what?"  
  
"My parents have me betrothed to someone else."  
  
"Oh," Jesse said, "Well at lease we got to spend this last day together."  
  
"No Jesse, I am no marrying the horrible man. I will drink the water and we can spend forever together."  
  
"Oh that will be swell. But how are you gonna get away?"  
  
"I thought up a sort-of-plan...you could be the tour guide for my family  
  
and then the day we are supposed to leave Paris I will go out for a walk and not return. I  
  
will really go to your house, apartment, or whatever housing establishment you have."  
  
"I think and hope that that will work. So..will you marry me?"  
  
"Oh of course I will Jesse!"  
  
They kissed again.  
  
"I really need to be going," Winnie said, "I told my parents I was out for a  
  
walk but I am afraid I have been out for close to two hours!"  
  
"Alright, let's descend then," he said, helping her down the ladder.  
  
They saw Lisle and Miles talking and laughing.  
  
"Looks like someone else has found happiness and love in this city," Jesse  
  
whispered.  
  
Winnie and Jesse approached Miles and Lisle holding hands.  
  
"You're getting married," Miles stated matter-of-factly.  
  
Winnie blushed and Jesse laughed.  
  
"How did you know that?" asked Jesse.  
  
"So it's true?" Lisle asked, "Oh that is so exciting. But Miss  
Winnie..what about Mr. Jackson?"  
  
"Oh, phooey on him!" was Winnie's reply.  
  
"I knew you two were getting hitched because Winnie was crying before  
  
she came down and you looked happy so I just put two and two together."  
  
"Well Lisle and I better be going..we'll see you two later?"  
  
"Of course," replied Jesse.  
  
Jesse and Winnie gave each other a parting kiss. Lisle nad Miles stood across from each other uncomfortably.  
  
"It was good to see you again, Miles," Lisle said.  
  
"Likewise," Miles said before quickly kissing her on the cheek and then  
  
walking away.  
  
"C'mon Jesse," he called gruffly over his shoulder.  
  
The two girls walked back into the hotel, smiling a smile so characteristic  
  
of women in love.  
  
*OK, thank you for reading. I realize it is a little hokey, but those who can't live it, live  
  
vicariously through fiction characters! Well please review and I will try and have another  
  
chapter out really soon!* 


	6. Chapter 5

*Hey you guys! Thanks for your reviews and reading this story...I don't  
own this as you know...so just read!*  
  
Winnie and Lisle entered the hotel room and immediately the Foster  
  
swooped down on them.  
  
"Where have you been? I've been worried sick, your mother to tears,"  
  
lectured her father.  
  
"Yes," her mother added, "It is almost time for dinner and you look  
  
affright! Lisle," she snapped.  
  
"Yes m'am?"  
  
"You were very irresponsible. She should have been home hours ago to  
  
dress and she wasn't. You wouldn't want to lose your job, now would you?"  
  
"No m'am."  
  
"Well then go on and help Winifred dress for dinner. Her white muslin  
  
dress with the light blue sash."  
  
"Yes m'am," Lisle said as she and Winnie left the room.  
  
"Why do you let her talk to you that way?" Winnie asked Lisle once they  
  
were safely in her bedroom.  
  
"She is my employer. I have no choice rather than to accept her criticism.  
  
But I guess my job is as good as gone when you and Jess elope."  
  
"Maybe but not if you come with us! Miles kissed your cheek so he might  
  
even ask you to come. We will see the world together. All four of us...a real family."  
  
"Maybe but it would take forever to see the whole world."  
  
"Yes it would," Winnie said laughing at the irony of Lisle's statement.  
  
The Fosters ate their dinner with another prominent family in the hotel, the  
  
Clarks. Mr. Clark was the inventor of something. Whatever it was seemed to be boring  
  
her father and mother to death. The Clarks had a son and a daughter, Marie and William.  
  
Marie was a haughty girl, Winnie's age, who kept making eyes at all of the waiters.  
  
William was Jesse's age and kept making eyes at Winnie. Every time Winnie turned to  
  
look at him he would give her a ridiculous large smile. So Winnie occupied herself by  
  
thinking which of her dresses she should wear for the wedding. Upon some deliberation  
  
she finally decided upon the patched and cleaned up dress...the one she had worn her t  
  
time with the Tucks.  
  
"Oh yes, he was an excellent tour guide. It seemed he was pining for  
  
another girl though because when Marie inquired him to buy her some tea he refused  
  
quite adamantly."  
  
Winnie glanced up.  
  
"Well I need to look into this fellow. You say just go down to the  
  
concierge's and asks him to do it. But I don't believe Winnie will be flirting around. She  
  
is betrothed to Mr. Jackson, Peter. You know..Andrew's son?"  
  
"Oh yes," Mr. Clark said and then they started a discussion on timber, Mr.  
  
Jackson's specialty and source of wealth.  
  
"You are engaged to Peter?" Marie asked.  
  
Winnie just meekly nodded.  
  
"William here went to preparatory school with him. He was a few years  
  
older but back then I remember him as horribly unfortunate in the looks."  
  
"Well Marie," Winnie said leaning is as to tell her a secret," He still is!"  
  
After dinner Winnie went back to the hotel with her parents and they took  
  
her straight to the concierge's desk and signed her up for a tow day tour of Paris starting  
  
tomorrow with Jonathon Taylor.  
  
"Clever to change his name," thought Winnie.  
  
The concierge gave Winnie a strange look but took her father's money and  
  
told her what time to arrive in the morning.  
  
Winnie went upstairs, where Lisle undid her corset and put her hair in a  
  
braid.  
  
"You are rather quiet tonight," Winnie said.  
  
"Miles came by tonight. And he says he loves spending time with me.  
  
And that if you and Jesse ran away together that I should come."  
  
"That is very wonderful Lisle!"  
  
"And that got me thinking. Miles has not changed...at all...in almost a  
  
decade not a bit. Not a wrinkle, a gray hair, anything."  
  
"I'm sure he has," Winnie lied.  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
"Well I am going to retire. Got a long day ahead of me."  
  
"Of course, good night Winnie."  
  
"Good night Lisle, sweet dreams."  
  
"To you too."  
  
The next morning Winnie woke up with the dawn. She got up and started  
  
to brush her hair. Once she had it straight and shiny, she pulled out a handkerchief and  
  
unfolded it. Inside there were small tubs of blush, eye shadow, and lipstick. She smeared  
  
a modest amount of the contraband items on her face and then stared at her reflection.  
  
"Satisfactory," she thought, "I am getting more rebellious every single  
  
day."  
  
She then found her corset and dress lying out on the side of her dressing  
  
table. She took the dress and then took a longer look at the corset and decided, "What the  
  
heck? I'll go without it!"  
  
She quietly snuck into Lisle's room.  
  
"Lisle," she whispered, "I'm ready to go...just go on and sleep in."  
  
Winnie guessed that Lisle heard her when she groaned and turned over.  
  
She silently left the room into the hall and took the elevator down.  
  
"Good morning Miss Foster," the elevator boy said, "What are you doing up so early?"  
  
"Winnie and I am going on a tour of Paris with um..what's his name?  
  
Oh yes...Jonathon Taylor."  
  
"Oh we are famous friends. Jonathon and I. He always used to mope  
  
around after work, waiting for his brother. I asked him what was the matter and he told  
  
me all about his girlfriend he had to leave overseas in the States. Coincidentally, her  
  
name was Winnie also."  
  
"What a coincidence," Winnie laughed as she stepped out of the elevator.  
  
"Have a nice day, Winnie."  
  
"You too," she called back to him.  
  
She walked into the lobby and towards the concierge's desk.  
  
"Good morning. I am here for a tour of Monsieur Taylor."  
  
"Very well. He's back here. Wait a moment s'il voius plait."  
  
"Merci."  
  
She waited for a second and then she saw Jesse exit a door in the back.  
  
"Hello," he said to her, "Shall we proceed on the tour?"  
  
"Alright."  
  
They exited the hotel, walked a block away and then immediately gave each other a kiss hello.  
  
"Are you ready to see Paris with me Winnie?" Jesse asked, grasping her  
  
hand and leading her down the street, not waiting for an answer. 


End file.
